Ogun state command arrest 30 suspected armed robbers

BY IFEOMA IKEM

OPERATIVES of Ogun State Police Command, Sango-Ota division, have arrested no fewer than 30 armed robbers and cult members who attempted to kill a couple during their wedding.

According to the commander, ACP Fayoade Adegoke, relevant information given by members of Ota community assisted them in the arrest of more than 20 of the suspected armed robbers and 10 cultists within three months.

Adegoke stated this during the second Security Town Hall meeting held at Connect Event centre, Ijako, Ota Ogun state. The security meeting was attended by community leaders, traditional rulers, market women, military officers and other government agencies.

He said that based on the outcome of the first meeting, the community participation in policing has yielded result that led to the arrest of some criminals and thereby making Ota more habitable for the community.

Adegoke, while highlighting some of his achievements, said he was able to foil an attempt by suspected cultists to kill a man on his wedding day.

He said the three suspects were arrested in connection with different weapons which they intend to use in the operation which the cultists would have succeeded but for the information given by some good Samaritan who saw the cultists gathered for their operation and then reported same to the police.

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The area commander also said that the common crimes in the area include kidnapping, armed robbery, murder, cultism, clash emanating from land matters.

He noted that with the support of the community and some adopted strategies by the command, different crimes were put under check noting that as the population of the area is increasing daily and policing is becoming more demanding and crime dynamics changing with time, they are also adapting different method to deal with criminals.

He pointed out that to effectively do that, there was the need to urgently build more police Stations and Post, coupled with steady supply of crime fighting tools and logistics for effective service delivery.

Speaking further, the Ogun State Commissioner of police, CP Abdulmajid Ali said the meeting would help curb insecurity in the state and it will also enhance effective relationship between the police and the community. He commended the area commander for his effort and enjoined the people to cooperate with the police.

Observing that kidnapping, ritual killings, cultism and robbery were the major crimes when he took over, Ali added that this made him ordered to his men to apprehend and prosecute anyone found carrying out such crimes noting that it has reduced some of the criminal activities in the state.

AIG Bala Hassan, in charge of Zone 2, urged the traditional rulers in the area to check their subjects, with a view to reporting anyone with criminal tendency to the authority. He assured the state of more Area Commanders and patrol vehicles, stressing that this would check crimes criminality in Ogun state.

The traditional ruler of Ilogbo, Oba Olufemi Ojugbeleyi, said that peace has returned to his domain due to the collective efforts of the police and the community. “My main concern is the enforcement of court judgment over land issues. Some policemen frustrate such judgment as they would fail to enforce it. Even such attitude is not good for the development of any community,” he said.

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In related development four students of University of Lagos (UNILAG) have been arrested for allegedly acting suspiciously at the graveside of a colleague, Eniola Jacobs, who had died from allegedly taken of a lethal pest control chemical widely known as “Sniper.”
The Command’s Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Olumuyiwa Adejobi, who confirmed the arrest, said the students acted “suspiciously.”

The arrested persons, identified as Adeboye Timothy, Aramowo Stephen, Awe-Obe Raphael and Iwerima Jacob are said to be members of Cherubim and Seraphim campus fellowship, along with the deceased.

“We arrested the students at the graveside when they insisted they wanted to exhume the corpse,” Adejobi said. The PPRO said the action was unacceptable to the parents and also appeared strange to the police. He confirmed that the students arrested are being detained at the Criminal Investigations Department of the Eleweran Division in Abeokuta, Ogun State.

Jacobs was said to have died recently at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) while being treated for toxin intake.